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Topic: Adjusting propane regulator? (Read 15081 times)

Hey there folks! I've got a new BPS for Christmas and am having some trouble. When I was giving things a test run, I noticed it took a LONG time (+40 minutes after a 1 hour warm up) for the bisquette to generate any significant smoke.

As per the forums here, I took apart the gas jet and cleaned it. No change in behavior.

So - today I decided to give it a run anyway, and just manually advance bisquettes. I'm not expecting great success, but my additional problem seems to be that I can't get the smoker up to temp with 7 lbs brisket in it. I struggle to get over 190F, ambient temp is 60F, no wind.

That leads me to believe I have propane pressure problems. I'd like to adjust the regulator, but the cap (labeled "Global") over the regulator diaphragm adjustment seems to be sealed to the unit.

Kevin that blue disc marked Global will pop out, be gentle. underneath you'll find a plastic disc with a slot. Turn in to increase gas flow, turn out to decrease flow. Having said that the amount of adjustment is fairly small and removing the cap will certainly void your warranty. Bradley has very good warranty service It would make sense to call them before opening that cover. Seven lbs is a fair chunk of meat for the Pbs it will do it but will take lots of time. Bringing the meat to room temp before it goes in the smoker will help the heat up time. Hope this helpsWilly

Thanks for the advice Willy; I'll give Bradley a call on Monday when they open up.

However - I was able to make some adjustments. Loosely plugging two of the vent holes with foil plugs allowed the heat to get around 215 for most of the rest of the run. Let the bisquettes run about 30 minutes per, and got an okay amount of smoke (each following bisquette did a bit better, as the heat carried over to the following one).

Brisket took about 8.5 hours to get to an IT of 180F, it's FTC right now, we'll see how it comes out!

I'm still concerned about the need to have to heat the first bisquette over an hour, and each follower taking 30 mins to get much smoke, and the fact that running full-out barely held 215. We'll see what they have to say...

You may be doing this already but I found with my BPS that you won't get much action out of the unit with just the puck burner on, you have to turn both burners on full for about 15-20 min and that heats everything up well. Then put the pucks in. If you give everything a good pre-heat it should start smoking good in about 5 min, with just the puck burner the first puck will drop unburned. One you get usesd to the way the unit acts you will be away to the races.

The output is measured in inches of water. A manometer is used to make the correct adjustment. Here is a link to a simple manometer you an make yourself.Zoho Cigars

« Last Edit: September 20, 2014, 07:49:43 am by Kavobyzi »

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oday we are going to write a review about Montecristo Open cigars purchased from PuroExpress.com The box arrived within 3 weeks to us well packed, but what took my attention is that there was no bar code in the box.

I used it once and put it up. I used it again today with a concerted effort of wanting to make it work. I"m having a major issue of getting it above about 180'F. I wanted to smoke some ham and cheese stuffed bacon wrapped chicken breasts. The BPS got them to about 125'F but that was it. After 2.5 hours I ended up finishing them off on my webber gas grill.

My guess is that the propane burner is sensitive to wind, which I did have a slight breeze.

I've read posts about adjusting the propane output, does anyone have any additional info on how to do that? I'd like to see an internal temp at the top of the tent be about 275-300. Low temps seems to be a universal complaint on gas/electric smokers regardless who makes them.

I like this unit for the portability of it as I'd like to make serious use of it with the RV. I"ve known tongue pull campers that take their full fledged box on the side smokers that takes two people to get off a truck bed. With a fifth wheel, we don't have the luxury of lugging a big smoker around.

I've experimented with the gas supply and found there is a small amount of adjustment, not enough to be of much use.Keeping it out of the wind will be away more effective in temp control.Don't leave that unit unattended, I've had fires in mine

DC, with a loaded cabinet 275f is asking too much from any of the Bradley smokers, they're meant to be low and slow in the 200-225 range, briskets do very well at 225f it will just take longer. Keep it out of the wind and rain and try it at the lower temps, I think you'll be happy with the resultsCathouse

I don't know much about the BPS. Have you tried any of the tips in the Bradley Propane Smoker section, listed in Bradley FAQ's?

LOL... well, I violated one of the rules on the FAQ!! In an effort to aid clean up I did put foil on the drip tray but I did cut holes where the vent holes are.

I"ll try again without futzing with the regulator yet. Still, I'd like a slightly higher temp in the tent. I'd like to get it to about 275 where I could try a small brisket tip.

TIA,

David

DC, I expect the basis for the no foil recommendation is that the foil traps heat and smoke below it. If a person exactly matched the holes in the drip tray, I'd think you'd be OK. But, for me, that would be too much fussing. I just soak my drip tray, use a brush to knock off the food bits that I can get off, and run through the dishwasher. Yes, I do have some stuff burned on to the drip tray that the dishwasher won't take off. I suppose one of these years I'll slip the drip tray in a garbage bag and take some oven cleaner to it, then run through the dishwasher. In the mean time, the drip tray works fine.